Strange rash. Anyone else/any ideas?

[Anonymous]

OP again...so the excitement continues. My son's legs look awful. I still have no idea what the cause is. Almost looks like a bad case of acne and I know that they must itch a lot. 2 doctors have said "must be bug bites" and both said definitely not bed bugs. ENT who removed a small green rubbery thing from the right ear and, as an added bonus, a pencil eraser from the left (seriously) thought it
looked like poison ivy. He did not think it looked like molluscum. I also took him in to the school nurse to see if she had any ideas/had seen any other kids with anything similar...she hadn't, but also didn't think bug bites. She even had the county public health nurse look at hiim who guessed a virus. If it isn't better in a day or so, I am going to go to a derm. It is baffling...but, on the bright side, I now know why he had trouble listening to me. Would love to know how long that stuff was in his ears. Boys!

[Anonymous]

OMG that's too funny about the ears! Sorry to laugh. I watched in horror as my son pushed a pea way up in his nostril a few years back. Fortunately I was able to get it out, but you just never know "why" they do these things.

I don't know where you are, but my family's dermatologist is great. He's up in Laurel, though.

http://www.wellness.com/dir/2187282/dermatologist/md/laurel/stephen-damm-md

And ask about this. It's more common in older kids. I got it in my 20s, but my form of it did not itch. Apparently it looks more "papular" in younger kids. And in 25% of cases, it itches like crazy.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/pityriasis-rosea-topic-overview

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure this thing out and I am starting to think that he has a bad case of "cercarial dermatitis," which he contracted during a Columbus Day weekend trip to Cape Henlopen state park in Delaware. I found a CDC article about an outbreak in the early 1990s and the conditions in the bay were the same. Low tide, calm water, sunny/warm temperatures in October. Plus, the only areas that are affected are where his skin was exposed - lower legs and lower arms. The rest of him was covered with swim trunks and a rash shirt, and he has no bumps on his face, back, or neck and only one on his chest. He spent almost 2 days playing in the bay water near the fishing pier - he was collecting "sea critters" and playing with a number of other kids - and I didn't get in the water (which is why I don't have anything).

Here's the article:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00016486.htm

I emailed his doctor, and I called the nature center at the park. I would love to know if others who were in the water that weekend have the same thing, but not sure where to post or whom to call. There were a number of kids playing in the bay, and a few fishermen standing in the waters. There were other adults in kayaks.

[Anonymous]

getting a derm appointment is tough. i recommend calling now.

alternatively, you could walk into an pediatric ER, like georgetown or cnmc.